There are days when I look back at my life and try to remember as much as I can so that I can pass this information on to my boys. So much has changed from when I was young child to today and I always wonder what it will be like for Eoin and Liam when they are my age.

I don't remember my father playing that much with us when we were little although I know he must have. My mom said we had a mattress in our living room where we would do tumbles on and even my dad would do them. Before my half sister passed away she e-mailed me a few pictures that I had never seen before. One of these pictures was of my father and his sister when they were little

When I was young we never had the toys that our children have today - if we had a car we had to use our feet to pedal around. Today they have battery powered cars that can go faster than I can walk.

For Liam's birthday we bought him a race car because we know how much he loves cars and I know that he will be getting a lot of hand-me-downs from his big brother. Since he got the car he has gotten so good at driving it and it is only set to go half speed.

Eoin is a lot like me - he loves to go outside and play all day long. He has met a number of the children around our house - we constantly have to tell him not to invite his friends over for food unless he checks with us.

Eoin is so excited to go outside the house we hardly ever get to put sunscreen on him. He is always looking for someone to play with and would probably know every child in the complex if we would let him ride around the entire neighborhood. He just came in the house trying to get Popsicles for all of his friends and he has not even had dinner yet.

We took the boys to the Dells a couple of weeks ago and we went on the Original Dells Ducks - Di liked it but Eoin was not happy. I went on this with my parents when I was very young and don't remember much of it but I think the ride is not as long as it used to be.

I also remember staying in a motel with a go cart track but we were to little to go on them - or it was just not in the budget. I don't even remember if the motel had a pool but I do remember them having to get a cot or two for us to sleep on.

The hotel we stayed at had a very large indoor water park that Eoin just loved.

When I was little we took very few vacations - my mom's mother lived in Georgia and driving down there took a couple of days. I remember going to St. Louis once but had to leave because one of my brothers got sick.

I hope that we can take the boys to lots of places so that they can see all of the wonderful sites. Di wants to go to Florida to visit the Harry Potter Theme Park when it opens - this could be a fun trip. I just checked and this is set to open is 2010 - We definitely have to save up for this trip.

Last day of Work

This is the day I always look forward to - my last day of work for the week.

I wish I could help Di out on the days that I work, especialy when she's sick, but it is almost impossible. I go to work, come home and go to bed so I can go back to work.

Saturday is the big day and we have a lot of work to do before the party - I know Di won't be at her best until at least Friday so I need to make sure I am able to help her out as much as possible.

I have to say that Di is the best person in the world - no matter what she is going through she always dpes her best to get things done. She has been sick since Sunday and she has been taking care of the boys along with her babysitting duties. The kitchen is clean and the other household chores are getting done, with very little help. I'm telling you if I was the sick one, I would be not be very much help.

Olive Garden

The other day we went out to eat at Olive Garden and we had a good meal. When the bill came I added it up as I always do but something was not right. When I added up the figures I was being over charged by 75 cents. I know this is a small amount but if they do this to every customer they will take in a lot of money.

Our waitress came over and asked if everything was OK and I let her know the bill was wrong. She went to the manager and let him / her know about the error and they fixed my bill by removing a drink to bring the total down.

I contacted Olive Garden and they are now sending me a gift card to use at their restaurant - this will give me another chance to examine the bill to see if they are still over charging.

Make sure if you go out to eat you add the items on the bill to make sure they add up.

The Candidates

As the presidential election comes close and closer I have come to the following conclusions.

Obama:

This man does not have a single idea of his own. If you look at his recent statements and what he is planning for the future we are in serious trouble. He is accepting his party's nomination in another venue so that he can accommodate 70,000 people - This was done by JFK.

He wanted to make a political speech in Germany - done by Ronald Regan - but was denied by the German Government.

He wants to enact Jimmy Carters failed economic plans - we need something better.

At first he said that he would meet with any world leader with out preconditions and now he will meet with them but he will require conditions.

His 8 country political trip was his first time in a long time but how much information did he really gather?

He said that he can have our troops out of Iraq in 2 years but that we will still need forces in Iraq but he did not mention how many. What is it - Will we have our troops out in 2 years or are we leaving troops in Iraq?

The press coverage said that the PM of Iraq agreed with Obama but if you read the articles that ask the PM he did not say that and that he said that we need an orderly troop removal as conditions stabilize.

As much as I hated this war from the start and that I thought Bush did this for revenge I would rather leave the troops there for a little longer than have to go back in and face something worse.

AND

If he becomes the President of the USA will he enact the policies that were enacted by the Chicago City Council to form a national witch hunt for companies that owned slaves in the early days of the USA as one of his backers did in the Chicago City Council (Alderman Dorothy Tillman I believe).

Now lets look at John McCain

The only things I know about John McCain is that he was a POW, he is old and does not really use computers.

Personally I think we need to reform the election process - We need to eliminate the first round of elections and have one major election where everyone who wants to be the President of the USA has their name on a ballot and the winner of that election is the President.

I have heard that it would be very expensive to do this but if you let the major networks bid for who could host the coverage and get unlimited access to the candidates - kind of like the NFL and MLB do - then it would allow this type of election process to go forth. We would have a much broader group of candidates to choose from and you might have a much larger turnout for these elections.

I trust Obama less than I trust Bush because his slogan 'Change America Can Count On' does not fly with what he is doing on a daily basis. I believe that if he gets in office we will all be in trouble.

What's the Deal

I have an unusual work schedule so I try to fit things into the limited time that I have. This morning I went to the health club and did my workout while leaving my children in the hands of the health club staff. Since I have to pay additional for this service, you would think that they would keep an eye on the little children so that they do not get hurt.

After working out for about 45 minutes I go to pick up my boys and I find the oldest first but the youngest is no where to be found. I look in the climbing area and he is not there so I open the first bathroom door and no child. I open the second bathroom door and here is my toddler playing around the toilet - the playroom staff does not even know that he is in there.

Being the kind of person who is not afraid to speak my mind I go to the front desk and tell one of the managers that I found my child in the bathroom alone. She went in and asked one of the ladies in the room if the bathroom doors were locked - mind you these locks are near the top of the door - and the lady said that she did not know but that the children are always unlocking them.

I'm as blind as a bat and I can tell that the doors are unlocked from a distance.

My main concern is what's going to happen the next time my children are left alone in the children's play area?

I have since called the headquarters for the club so that they can investigate this incident - hopefully they will call me back with some kind of resolution to this issue.